JACKSON STUDENT FACES JAIL TIME FOR SELLING DRUGS

JACKSON, Mo. -- A 17-year-old Jackson High School student faces the possibility of 10 or more years in prison after an arrest for selling marijuana near his school.

Blake J. Greene was charged with selling a controlled substance within 2,000 feet of the high school on Tuesday, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor's office reported.

Greene had met with 18-year-old Dennis W. Hay at the parking lot of New McKendree United Methodist church on Monday, said Rodney Barnes of the Jackson police.

Hay received a summons to appear in court for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, Barnes said.

In a written statement, Greene admitted to selling marijuana. A police K-9 discovered a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Greene's car.

Some students are allowed to park their cars in the church's lot, said Barnes, the school's resource officer.

"It was an unfortunate incident that I had to arrest him," Barnes said. "But you can't look the other way with something this serious."

This week's drug arrest made the second for Barnes this year. The police K-9 had found marijuana during a random walk through a student parking lot earlier this year.

"We certainly don't have a rampant problem," Barnes said. "Once in a while we'll have some drug possession issues."

The law making narcotic sales near any school a class A felony was amended by the Missouri legislature in 1996.